Well, another week has come to an end. I don’t know about you, but the days seem to be flying by with my family being at home—Binge-watching Black Lightning on Netflix. Yeah, we are now on season three. Texas is working on phase III of reopening; however, my husband’s work is still down. Hopefully, they will be back in swing come the end of this month. Then my work schedule will get back on track.
In Writing
Scheduling/Calendar
One of the most important things I have learned with my writing is to make a schedule. I get so wrapped up with editing or writing I forget to do other things like eat or to clean the house. A schedule is in order; I set up a blocked timeframe during the day. You will want to make sure that you remember to schedule a time for exercise, even if it is to go for a walk. You may think you don’t have time, but you can dictate your writing into your phone using MS Word or Google Docs while you walk. Yes, it will make for a bit more editing on the back end, but it will allow you to conquer two things at once.
I suggest you make a schedule. I have watched Sarra Cannon at Heartbreathing, on YouTube, she has journals for everything. Personally, I don’t know how she keeps up with them.
I am a one calendar type of gal. I will use different ink to make it easier to see the different things I have scheduled throughout the day. I will even change it up, so I’m not doing the same thing daily. I don’t want to get into a rut. I like being in charge of my schedule; that was one thing I hated when I had to work a 9 to 5 job. It was up to someone else as to what I would be doing during the day.
When I start my scheduling on my calendar, I start with my bills, I put them in red, so I know they need to be a priority. Next are birthdays and holidays, which are done in pink and highlighted with a small picture. Then I make any appointments I will do in blue. Any income which is due to coming in, I like to keep track of this, which I put in green. Then I schedule a blog post which is in gold. Any editing or writing to be done will be in purple. Dinner is in light blue, which I will schedule out a week at a time, this cuts down on time for I take the meat that I will be using for the week put in the refrigerator, which means its thawed when I pull it out to cook. I don’t have to worry about forgetting to pull out first thing in the morning or it not being thawed enough to cook come dinner time.
If you are looking for another way to set up a calendar, I recommend checking out Sarra either on Youtube(Heartbeathing) or on her website www.heartbreathing.com. She has an in-depth video on schedule for her calendar.
Indie Author
As an Indie Author, we have to wear many hats. At times it can be overwhelming. Authors who go through a traditional publisher have a team of people to help them. We get to do it all on our own, which means a lot of research to learn the ends and outs of what you need to do to get your book ready.
Once your book is ready to be sold, the next task is Marketing, which has been a challenge for me. I recommend to all set aside a sizable budget for Marketing. It seems everything that can help sell your book costs. Plus, you have to remember the rule of selling, which is your customers need to see your product at least seven times before they’ll buy it.
If you are on a tight budget, you can do a lot of posting adding different hashtags to get it in front of other people besides your friends that are on your newsfeed page. You will want to post to more than one platform to see which one gets the most activity. I post to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Linkedin.
Current Work
Well, this week I have worked roughly half the week. I set out to edit the first half of Dragon Squad – Book Two in The Elite Series.
You know it sucks when you start a writing project, then you go back to continue to work on that project; it is no longer there. Yes, I save my work to my cloud drive, but somehow I still lost the first six chapters of Dragon Mage – Book Three in The Elite Series. The good thing is I pretty much remember what I had written, so it’s just a matter of retyping the contents. This time I will ensure I have saved it with a backup. I won’t make the same mistake of losing it again. I guess at some point in a writer’s career, we all go through issues like this one.
I’m not too upset. I was going to rewrite the beginning of this book anyways. It makes it easier for now; I won’t get caught up with what I had already written the first time.
Blog Recommendations
I checked these Blogs out this week, they both have great advice:
20 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started a Blog by The Blonde Abroad. This article is great if you want to start a blog or you already have, just want some direction. She even offers a Blogging Master Class.
Lifesfinewhine by Pooja covers Lifestyle, Food, Travel, Beauty, Mental Health, and Blogging Advice with all this information you can’t go wrong.
Memorial Day Celebration
Memorial Day is Monday. As you barbecue, spend time with your family and friends take a special moment to remember all those who gave their lives while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Yeah made this world a better place in which we live today.
Did you know that Memorial Day used to be Declaration Day the first year it was observed on the last Monday in May 1868, to May 1970? In 1971, it became a federal holiday of the United States renamed to Memorial Day.
Please fly your flag proud for all who served; they gave the ultimate sacrifice to the land they loved for the freedom they cherish. So others may have a better future.
One more thing, don’t complain too much about all the war movies that will be on all day long on this day. It is a reminder to all of what the servicemen and women when through while serving.
Karen Carnahan 